Wizard Protection Program
by itsLisey
Summary: All of New York had heard the story; a family of Wizards lived amongst them. It was Jerry Russo's biggest fear come true...Huddled in the family room, The Russo's were prisoners in their own home.


All of New York had heard the story; a family of Wizards lived amongst them. It was Jerry Russo's biggest fear come true. The pitchforks and fire sticks never came out, but the pitiful cries of depression and desperate pleas for help landed on their subway shop doorstep quicker than Alex could scarf down a taco. Everyone wanted a magical solution to their problems and no one would accept a no. The very same night the news story broken, the Russo's boarded up the windows of their popular restaurant and locked every door and window. Huddled in the family room, they were prisoners in their own home.

Jerry and Theresa kept stealing nervous glances at each other as they scurried about the apartment the eve they were getting ready to depart. Justin, their eldest son, worked busily collecting his most important possessions and packing them (magically) in the smallest bag he could find. Max, the youngest wizard, lounged on his blanket-less bed twiddling his wand in his fingers, his bags already packed. It was Alex, the only daughter amongst the Russo's, who paced her bedroom nervously, her wand absent from her hands. Her best friend and roommate, Harper, sat on Alex's bed, a scared look behind her hazel eyes.

"What's going to happen to me?" Harper asked solemnly. Alex slowed her pacing and took a long look at the red head. Harper was everything Alex was not; smart, good, and happy. She was the daughter Alex knew her parents secretly wanted and the person Alex secretly envied.

"You can come," she replied weakly.

"My parents?"

"Can't know where we are. And if you come, and they come home and find us gone without a trace, they can report my parents for kidnapping. If we were ever to be found, my parents could go to jail." There was an unshakeable silence in the air. Harper stood and walked to Alex, mere inches from her best friend, and in the saddest voice Alex believed to have ever come from Harper's mouth, she spoke:

"And if I don't come?"

A single tear slipped down Alex's face.

"We can never see each other again," she said, her hands beginning to shake. "We can't e-mail, or, or..." Alex began to stutter. "Be friends on facebook," Alex chuckled a little. "We can't communicate. I can't tell you my new name or where I'm going. If I go and you stay here, and you have to become Harper without Alex and I have to become Alex without Harper."

"I don't know if I know how to do that," Harper said. Alex grabbed her best friends hand, and the two fell into each others arms like they had so many times over their friendship. This time though, there was a desperation to never let go.

Justin carried his bag down the stairs and tossed it onto the floor. His anger at having to move was apparent to everyone; he withdrew from his family and sulked in his own emotions most days now. He pushed passed the Wizard official who had come to provide them with new identities and sank into the plush cushions of their couch. Max came down right after, followed closely by a quiet Harper and Alex whose arms were linked together. The pair shared one of the large armchairs while Max sat next to his brother. Max was the least affected by the move. He didn't care where they lived as long as he got his own room to perform experiments in, he said. Jerry and Theresa came in and Jerry shook hands with the older Wizard in the room.

"Kids, this is Harvey Lyon. He's from the Wizard Protection Program and he will be assigning us new identities."

"The red head," Lyon said, smoothing invisible wrinkles from his suit and then cracking his knuckles. Alex watched his eyes travel from her to Harper and back to Jerry. Lyon's nose crinkled when he looked back at Harper as though a horrible smell had filled his nose. "She's yours too?"

"Well," Theresa began. Jerry shook his head and interrupted.

"She's been in our care for over a year now."

"But she's a mortal." Lyon said. His voice was raspy and monotone.

"She's my best friend." Alex spoke before her dad could and despite his desperate attempts to get her to stop talking without actually speaking himself, Alex continued to talk. "She's mortal but she's my best friend."

"Mr. Russo contrary to popular belief, the _Wizard," _he sneered at Alex and Harper. "-protection program does not cater to the wants of fifteen year old wizards and their mortal friends. I have identities prepared for the five of you. So," he turned his back to the oldest Russo's and looked at the youngest. "-if you would most kindly leave, mortal child."

"Please, Agent Lyon..." Theresa once again began talking only to be silenced by Jerry. She huffed but allowed him to go on.

"Harper has lived with us for more than a year. Her parents are in the circus and they travel more than they are at home. She's our daughter too," he smiled at Harper, who smiled back. "Please, if you'd just allow us the option of taking her with us."

"And if her mortal parents come searching for her? And then what? I assume, being that the two girls are, how do they say it? B-F-F's? They have photos taken of themselves together, surely? If I give you new identities, the mortal parents could easily scrounge up photos of the two together and use it to locate you wherever it is I might place you."

"Her parents aren't that smart!" Alex interjected. She shot a look at Harper immediately after she said it. "Uh, sorry."

"S'okay." Harper shrugged.

"Just give us the option. Let us have the option to take her with us." Lyon took an oddly shaped pair of glasses out of the pocket of his long black robe. He rubbed off the lenses and perched them onto his obnoxiously long, crooked nose. With a grimace, he conjured up a file with the Russo name written on the front and flipped through the pages. The pages flew from the envelope and landed neatly into a pile on the coffee table.

"I have one other household in New York to attend to," he declared. "It will take me but twenty minutes. In that time, you will choose from the list provided your new names. You will choose from five destinations. Mr. Russo and Mrs. Russo, carefully look over the school chooses I have provided. Please take the time to _carefully _choose your new profession. You will not have a second chance." Lyon turned on his heel and flicked his wand. Before completing the departure spell, he looked over to Harper. "And you decide where you would like to live. If you leave with the Russo's, I have no choice but to find your parents and wipe their memories clean of you." He looked back at Jerry. "Good luck."

Then he was gone. Everyone was quiet. Max grabbed the list of names and broke the silence;

"Ahha! Houdini! The perfect name!"

"No," Everyone said at the same time.

"What a dull crowd." Justin took the list from Max and conjured copies. Everyone took one and looked it over all while ignoring the ticking of the clock. Harper said nothing. She sat on the chair with Alex, occasionally stealing a glance at the list of names. Ten minutes had passed and Jerry slapped his page down on the table. On it, he had circled a school and both he and Theresa chose the jobs they would take up.

"A spanish teacher," Theresa smiled even behind the pain of having to leave her home. "I can do that. I would love to do that."

"And I'll be running a restaurant again." Jerry smiled at his wife. "It's what I do best, right honey?" Theresa nodded.

"And California is so bright and sunny," Theresa pointed out. "The school we picked out for you kids sounds really great from the description."

"I'm sure it will be a blast," Alex grumbled.

"Alright," Jerry looked at his watch. "Names?" Before anyone could speak, Harvey Lyon popped back into their living room and looked at them all expectantly.

"Names. Now. We have to move. There is a mob forming in front of your shop."

"Our surname will be Luca," Jerry spoke firmly. "It's still Italian but it has no ties to our family whatsoever."

"Kyle." Justin said, crumpling up his paper and tossing into an empty waste basket on the other side of the room. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back into the couch again.

"Tony." Max nodded cooly. "Like Tony Hawk. Maybe if I change my name to Tony, I'll become really good at skateboarding. New life, new skills!" Alex and Justin both rolled their eyes.

"Carter."

"Why Carter?" Theresa looked at her daughter oddly.

"Because if I can't keep my boyish name I'll choose another boyish name." Alex said simply.

"I'm going with Adam," Jerry said proudly. "Always wanted to be an Adam or a Brian. Just seemed cooler than Jerry."

"And I'm going with Maria." Theresa said quietly. You could hear the depression in her voice.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Harper, who sat idly by as her pseudo-family chose their new names. Alex realized she was still sitting next to Harper and looked at her. She knew there were only moments left in their friendship. She saw the pain in Harper's eyes when Lyon said he'd have to erase Harper from her parents memories. Alex Russo could be selfish, but she knew she couldn't live the rest of her life knowing she took her own best friends life from her. Alex stood and tore herself away from Harper. She felt her heart break into two, and she couldn't look back. Alex knew if she turned to look at Harper one more time that the tears would begin and they wouldn't stop. It was easier this way.

"We should go."

"Yes." Lyon said quickly, clapping his hands together. The family gathered into the middle of the room all together. Each had their bags in their hand. A spare bag that had been meant for Harper sat alone where the rest of the bags had been. "Everyone knows the drill," he muttered. "Once we leave here you may not return. I will be erasing your faces from yearbooks and from newspapers. You will no longer be the Russo family."

"We know the rules." Jerry confirmed. The whole family, sans Alex, looked at Harper with sad eyes. Theresa sniffled and hugged Harper, tears rolling down her face. Jerry hugged her as well and wiped the one tear that fell from his eyes. Justin nodded, and Max gave her a high five and a "see ya later!". Harper chuckled. Alex stayed facing the wall unable to turn around. As the family gathered once more in the middle of the room. Lyon waved his wand forward, and in the split second before he could perform the departure spell Harper yelled out.

"Alison!"

Lyon stopped. Everyone turned back to look at Harper. She smiled and walked to her bag, picking it up and slinging it over her shoulder.

"I've always wanted to be an Alison." Alex turned back to her best friend. Finally she looked her in the eyes. Harper walked over to the family. "Almost as much as I've wanted to be a Russo."

"You are a Russo, Harper." Theresa smiled.

"Harper are you sure?" Alex asked. "Your parents..."

"My parents dumped me on your doorstep. You guys took me in." Harper grabbed Alex's hand and squeezed it. "The heroes are the ones who stay. The villains are the ones who leave."

"You know the consequences of this action, correct?" Lyon asked.

"I do." Harper nodded. She linked arms with Alex and joined the rest of the family. "Ready, Carter?" Alex smiled and leaned her head on Harper's shoulder.

"Ready as ever, Alison."

With the flash of a wand, the Russo family traveled through a Wizard time tunnel and landed just seconds later in the living room of their beach side home. Justin, smiling for the first time in days, looked out at the ocean and noted how easily the stars would be visible at night for stargazing. Max ran out into the sand and into the salty ocean, splashing around in the waves and digging through the water looking for any sort of live animal. Jerry waved at his face, pushing around the heat and Theresa gazed around at the small, but attractive, kitchen. Harper and Alex ran upstairs to the bedrooms. There were four; one large master bedroom, and three smaller bedrooms. The girls immediately tossed their bags into the biggest room they could find.

"Boys, they're so thick." Alex muttered. "You'd think Justin, being the smart one, would have grabbed the biggest room first. Too bad for those suckers!" She began waving her wand and unpacking her bag, letting posters tape themselves to walls and bedding to be folded onto her bed. Harper smiled and looked out the window. "You're sure you made the right decision?" Harper turned back around and smiled.

"I've never been so sure about something, Alex." She jumped onto her bed and rolled around. "Dude, we're in California. You know what's in California?"

"California guys?"

"Oh. That too." Harper said quietly. "I was going to say new fresh fruit for my outfits. But hot california guys are equally as enjoyable."

"I'm glad you came." Alex went and laid next to her friend on the bed. They laid their quiet for minutes, maybe hours, before being summoned down to dinner. Theresa pulled out paper plates and plastic cups from a grocery bag and everyone grabbed a slice of pizza. Together they sat around the dinner table as a family in a new city with their new lives. Jerry looked at his family, and despite the fear he knew he would carry every day of his life of being recognized, he had never felt happier. His kids – yes, all four of them – were munching on cheesy pizza and chatting about school the next day and his wife was sipping her favorite wine that he purchased with the first installment of money the Wizard Protection Program was sending the family for their troubles. Tomorrow he would be launching his new pizza restaurant off the ground. The family was on track and no one – not even the anonymous tipster that gave away their identities – could bring the Russo – no, the Luca – family down.


End file.
